Street Food Tour Cartagena

Cartagena and Caribbean coast, Travel Guide Cartagena, Cartagena and Caribbean coast, Travel Stories, Travel Guide Cartagena, Travel Stories

In search of cartagena’s best snacks

At one of the busiest stalls, two ladies made arepa con huevo, a specialty in Cartagena. The arepa is filled with meat and an egg is added before frying.

A tour where you taste Cartagena’s tastiest snacks -with lots of cheese- AND get introduced to the city? That seemed like a perfect idea to these foodies!

Chocolate Museum
The tour with Cartagena Connections began at the Chocolate Museum at Plaza Fernandez de Madrid in San Diego. Since we were early, we were able to look around the museum and taste some chocolate. From the Chocolate Museum, the walk headed toward Getsemaní with our German guide Jan. He has lived in Cartagena for years and knew many interesting facts about the city. Along the way we stopped at stalls, where Jan bought us snacks and where we could see people at work.

Queso, Queso y Queso
We watched Deditos de queso (cheese fingers) being rolled and tasted Patacones con queso, green banana “cookies” with cheese. One of our favorite snacks was the Bocadillo con queso, Guava with a piece of white cheese.

Cartagena specialty
At one of the busiest stalls, two ladies made arepa con huevo, a specialty in Cartagena. The arepa is filled with meat and an egg is added before frying. What makes arepas extra tasty are the sauces, such as the sweet salsa de piña (pineapple sauce) and salsa picante.

Salted mango
We tasted Buñuelos, small balls made of corn and cheese, and Mango Biche, green mango with salt. Fruit combined with salt didn’t sound very appealing at first, but it was a fresh change from all the cheese snacks.

Corozo ice cream
We ate Arepas de choclo, made with sweet corn and at the end of the tour we had an ice cream made from Corozo. This is a red-purple fruit that grows high on the palm trees on the coast. Never knew this fruit was edible! The fruit resembles a berry and produces a deep purple color.

Café del Mural
The tour ended at Café del Mural in Getsemaní, a café that is located among colorful murals. With an old-fashioned jug of brewed coffee, we ended this tasty and interesting tour on our first day in Cartagena.

Written by Jeanette
Travel date September 2019

#ColombiaMyWay tips

  • Take the tour at the beginning of your stay in Cartagena. It’s a fun way to get acquainted with the city, and you’ll get tips for great restaurants along the way.
  • Don’t plan an big dinner on the day of the tour. If you want to sample all the snacks, it’s pretty filling
  • At the chocolate museum, say clearly that you are coming for the street food tour and not for the chocolate workshop. Apparently we were not clear because the chocolatier was already coming to pick us up for the workshop!
  • We saved over 4$ per person by paying with COP instead of US$
  • We did the tour with Cartagena Connections. Check here all street food tours in Cartagena.

Want to know more about Cartagena? Then check out our Cartagena travel guide.

Celebrating Christmas in Cartagena

Cartagena and Caribbean coast, Travel Stories

Christmas in Cartagena

All week we saw Colombians going to the manicure, pedicure and to the hairdresser, or having their eyebrows touched up in a chair on the street. Streets were lit up and everywhere you could hear Christmas songs (translated or not) coming out of the speakers.

Christmas spirit in the tropics
If you are normally used to Christmas in Europe or North America, the Christmas feeling in 30 degrees is at far away at first. But, fortunately, Christmas in Colombia is celebrated big, but really big. Families get together, hours are spent in the kitchen and there are many gifts. All week we saw Colombians going to the manicure, pedicure and to the hairdresser, or having their eyebrows touched up in a chair on the street. Streets are lit up and everywhere you can hear Christmas songs (translated or not) coming out of the speakers.

Christmas church service
We kicked off Christmas Eve by going to Mass at 5 p.m. at Santo Domingo Church. Although the Spanish was most of the times too fast for us, it was special to experience. Christmas in Colombia kicked off!

Christmas Eve at hostel
We were lucky enough to be in the Viajero hostel with many other backpackers and the hostel hosted a dinner on Christmas Eve. After Mass, we arrived at the festively decorated patio, where there were long tables. (OK with plastic chairs, but ignore that fact for a moment) Candles and a live band completed the atmosphere. Although the food was not extraordinary, it was nice to spend Christmas together. Lots of snacks & drinks, new people and new friends!

 

Christmas Day at the beach
For Christmas Day we had arranged to meet up with some British and Australian backpackers we met before in Minca. Christmas on the beach playing lots of games is defenitely different from Christmas in the snow (or rain). For the evening we had a reservation with the group at a chic restaurant, because the British love Christmas even more than we Dutch do and they wanted to celebrate big!

Mashed potatoes with Colombian sausage
Boxing Day we were slightly hungover and it was time to facetime with the home front. Then we decided to bring Holland to Colombia: it was time for a typical Dutch stew with Colombian sausage.

Christmas ended in style with a cocktail during sunset at Café del Mar.

Feliz Navidad!

By Mellijn
Travel date December 2017

#ColombiaMyWay Tips:

  • Find a hostel where you are among people, which means you don’t have to spend Christmas alone. We stayed at Viajero hostel Cartagena
  • Visit the church service at the Santo Domingo Church. (In the old town, near Plaza Santo Domingo)
  • Book restaurants during Christmas early in advance!
  • Have a cocktail at Café del Mar; one of the most beautiful and popular places to have a drink during sunset
  • Want to know more about Cartagena? Then check out our travel guide Cartagena.

Updated september 2024

Behind the scenes at Mercado Bazurto

Cartagena and Caribbean coast, Travel Stories

Cartagena off the beaten path

During the tour, interaction was key: We learned to dance a few steps to Champeta music, while attracting a lot of attention from the locals -:) Afterwards, we were able to cool off with a Costeñita beer and chat with the CD salesman. We even got to take home a CD of Champeta music.

 

The tour to Mercado Bazurto appealed to us because it would allow us to see Cartagena outside the tourist highlights. We wanted to wander around this local market and experience the daily “hustle and bustle.”

The tour
The guide picked us up at the hotel in Getsemaní, after which we walked to the other participants’ hotel and boarded the local bus together. At a shopping mall, a final sanitary stop was made before we walked toward the market. The guide told us about the former Chinese neighborhood in which the market is located. At a store, she bought bottles of water, which would later be used to make fruit smoothies.

Strong stomach
We learned the story behind the vendors and saw the conditions people have to work in: the heat, puddles of dirty water, garbage and a meat and fish market, which requires a strong stomach.

Pans and more…
The boss of the metal workshop proudly showed us his workshop and explained that his store fulfills an important function. Among other things, people can come to him to have pans repaired. A little further on, “Runner” made advertising banners and he also made one especially for us. We were allowed to make up the text ourselves.

Dancing to Champeta music
During the tour, interaction was key: we learned a few steps dancing to Champeta music, while attracting a lot of attention from the locals. Actually, we were the real attraction on the market hahaha. After the dancing, we were able to cool off with a (miniscule) Costeñita beer and chat with the CD seller. We were even given a CD of Champeta music to take home.

Tropical fruit
We sampled delicious fruit smoothies and tropical fruits such as Lulo and Guanabana. We feasted our eyes on the market with spices, clothing, household items and fish and meat.

Restaurante Cecilia’s
At the end of the tour, it was time for lunch at Cecilia’s. Cecilia’s has become famous because culinary TV personality Anthony Boudain once filmed here for his TV show. We ate specialties of the coastal region: Sopa de mote, (soup with chunks of cheese) Pescado con arroz de coco, (fish with coconut rice) and fried banana.

Surprise
After the heat at the market, it was a surprise that we did not have to walk back to the bus stop, but were picked up by a minivan. In the air conditioning we were able to let the experiences of the day sink in, before we were dropped off near our hotel.

Information and tips

  • We found it helpful to visit Mercado Bazurto with a local guide. The market is hectic and so big that it’s easy to get lost if you don’t know your way around. Plus, with a guide, you can easily get into conversation with the people in the market.
  • There are several tour operators that offer this tour. On this trip to Cartagena, we did the tour with Cartagena Insider by FEM. Part of the proceeds go to charity, such as education projects.
  • We were hesitant about this tour beforehand, regarding the hygiene of the market. After having experience the tour, it turned out to be unnecessary. The guide bought bottles of water for the fruit smoothies and the small restaurant where we ate was fine.
  • Wear shoes instead of flip flops, due to the puddles of (dirty) water
  • Do you want to do this too? Book the Mercado Bazurto tour here

Written by Jeanette
Travel date September 2019

Want to know more about Cartagena? Then check out our Cartagena travel guide here . Check here the nicest hostels and hostels in Cartagena.